In the aftermath of the Illinois Republican presidential primary one thing has become clear – the delegate counts being bandied about by the Romney campaign and its sympathizers in the Republican establishment are at best wishful thinking and are more likely a ploy to hijack the Republican National Convention before it even opens.

Despite the vast sums Romney spent on TV ads, turnout in Chicago was the lightest it has been in modern times. The results in Illinois show that, far from exciting the base and capturing their imaginations, Romney is winning by turning many of them off.

Your video camera, that is. With all the publicity about the Tea Party and other rallies that will take place during the extended oral arguments, March 26, 27 and 28, you know the pro-Obama media will be looking to create a false narrative about the gatherings.

In an incisive post on Red State, Morton Blackwell, a member of the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee, points out how this year’s Republican National Convention delegate count is complicated by the fact that the Republican state parties in Florida and Arizona chose to violate the election calendar established by the RNC and Rule 15(b)(2) of the Rules of the Republican Party.

Capitol Hill Republican leaders are still operating with the Bush-Hastert-Frist spending mentality. All the good ideas in Paul Ryan’s budget plan will come to naught unless one key element is added – new Republican leaders prepared to actually spend less next year than they did this year.

The barons of the Illinois establishment Republican Party and their counterparts around the country would like to think that conservatives will eventually acquiesce to the Romney nomination and that come November grassroots conservative voters will hand them back the federal check book and the reins of power they so woefully abused during the George W. Bush years. Send Them a Message that they're wrong.

In 2010 the Tea Party and grassroots movement conservative voters sent a message; that business-as-usual establishment Republicans are just as big a threat to freedom as are liberal Democrats. In Illinois, grassroots movement conservative and Tea Party voters can send that same message tomorrow by turning out to vote for Rick Santorum in the Republican presidential primary election.